La strutturazione del potere seleucidico in Anatolia: il caso di Acheo il Vecchio e Alessandro di Sardi

This study reconsiders both the historiographical and documentary evidence related to Achaeus the Elder and to his son Alexander of Sardis according to the recent development of the research on Seleucid history and political structures. I attempt to characterise the rule of Achaeus over Caria and Lydia and its relation with the central Seleucid power. Achaeus is likely an ἑταῖρος of the king, who, given lands in Asia Minor, in the first quarter of the 3rd century develops a personal power through protecting the people of his area against the Galatians. Consequently he roots and structuralises his rule, probably stimulating the Hellenization of the people of his given lands. Moreover, I compare the structure of the Achaeus’ power to that of his son Alexander, governor of Sardis, who according to inscriptions, appears to be far less independent from the Seleucid central power than his father. The overall impression is that around the mid 3rd century BC, Antiochus II strengthens his cooperation with the local Macedonian ruler of Caria and Lydia, thus reducing the independence of the area from the central power, and gaining a more structured and direct control over the region.